Calendar

Item 7.11 (On Consent)

Subject: Creation Of A Privacy Advisory Commission

From: Office Of The City Administrator

Recommendation: Adopt An Ordinance Establishing The Privacy Advisory Commission, Providing For The Appointment Of Members Thereof, And Defining The Duties And Functions Of Said Commission.

Proposed Ordinance

The Oakland Privacy Working Group invites you to come and support the creation of a first-of-its-kind privacy commission for Oakland, an outgrowth of our work opposing the Domain Awareness Center.

Tomorrow! #ReclaimSF pic.twitter.com/PMeK4rnR2O

— FireWorks (@FireWorksBAY) January 6, 2016

Kurdish Film Series in #Oakland coming up in solidarity w #Rojava first one Dec 20th 5:30pm @ 1501 Harrison St pic.twitter.com/u2CnfVpbFC

— Occupy Oakland (@OccupyOakland) December 17, 2015

“Suhr & Lee: Stop Killing SF & Its Black, Brown, Disabled & Poor People -Mayor Lie Must Resign & Greg Suhr Must be fired”

Bring a car, truck if you have on to help folks who are disabled- we will drive, march, walk up to his house which is three blocks away

Statement by impacted, displaced, and po’Lice terrorized:

For Mario Woods and all crimes of displacement and police terror against our poor, Black, Brown and disabled bodies we, the most impacted, are calling for the resignations of the San Francisco Mayor and Police Chief

“As a Black activist with a disability I have seen/read in 2015 alone three high-profile cases of police brutality against Black disabled men on the streets of San Francisco including the recent killing of Mario Woods,Today in 2015 we realize that more promises of training is not the only answer, it’s time for institutional changes in the police department and on the police commission board..” said Leroy Moore, Race and Disability writer for POOR Magazine and founder of Krip Hop Nation.

In response to San Francisco Police murders of Mario Woods, a disabled, African-American resident of the Bayview Hunters Point district of San Francisco, Amilcar Lopez earlier this year and Alex Nieto last year, a group of poor, disabled, Black, Brown, homeless and poor residents, advocates and youth who have personally dealt with eviction, displacement and police terror are demanding the immediate resignation of police chief Greg Suhr and his overseer SF Mayor, Ed Lee. This latest tragedy involving a young man of color murdered by police is directly connected to Mayor Lee’s prioritization of wealthy development over people. As well, we are putting forth and demanding an urgent solution; to elect a community member to the Police Review Commission and the San Francisco Planning Commission.

…In the beginning of the year we saw Bo Frierson of the Filmore almost tipped over from his wheelchair by an officer, in August we have seen seventeen cops take down Musa Fudge, a Black homeless man with a prosthetic leg in downtown and now a deadly shooting of Mario Woods, a Black man with a history of mental health disabilities in the Bayview district. Back in 2001 the community fought for the police crisis training after the shooting of another Black man with mental health disabilities, Idriss Stelley however more than ten years later, less than half of the department has undergone the training,and the watered down version of the training and funding snatched away and the recent shooting, all points to the effectiveness of the training has always been questionable and now have been seen as a band-aide that has never been the purpose to heal it is the purpose to keep the public quiet as the institutional culture of police continues to be hidden from the community . Leroy Moore.

“As the mother of a mentally disabled young African Sun who was murdered by San Francisco police department after a 911 call for help and who was involved in training police for years, iI don’t believe training can stop the police culture of murder against black, brown and disabled people,” said Mesha Irazarry, mother of Po’Lice murder victim Idriss Stelley. She continued, “They should defund the police and give the money to mental health providers, expecting police to respond to a mental health crisis is like expecting a mortician to deliver your baby.”

“Mayor Lee and Chief Suhr have shown a lack of leadership in this crisis. The Mayor in particular has shown no leadership at all levels and his reaction to the murder indicates how out of touch he is with the community. Mayor Lee and Chief Suhr need to resign”, said Tony Robles, Board president of the Manilatown Heritage Foundation.

The brutality of San Francisco police and housing policies against San Francisco’s low-income, African-American and communities of color are so flagrant that our collaboration of very grassroots, poor and impacted people-led organizations have no choice but to come forward with this demand before we are no longer here, said Lisa “Tiny” Gray-Garcia, Poverty Scholar and co-author of this statement and author of Criminal of Poverty, Growing Up Homeless in America. She continued, “Police policies put in place by Mayor Lee’s administration have increased our homelessness, have increased our arrests and incarceration and have led to our eventual removal as poor people, as disabled people, as people of color.”

The co-authors of this statement represent the most impacted residents of San Francisco, a city with less than 3% of its African-American population left,down from over 20%, a city with a police chief who enables the extra-judicial killing of its young Black , Brown and poor residents and a City run by a Mayor who because of his investment in luxury development and displacement, makes it impossible for its Black, Brown and Low-income elders and families to remain here.

This media release is co-authored by disabled, homeless, poor, Black and Brown leaders at POOR Magazine/Prensa POBRE, the Idriss Stelley Foundation, Krip Hop Nation and The Manilatown Heritage Foundation and The Coalition on Homelessnes #######

link to statement:http://www.poormagazine.org/mario-woods-san-francisco-call-mayor-police-chief-resign

What really happened at the Paris Climate Talks and what does it mean now that they are over? Hear first hand from Kathy Dervin, 350 Bay Area, and other local activists.

Why does local action matter? Learn about the City of Berkeley’s progress in reaching its climate action goals and how YOU can take action now through the Transition Streets program and the Berkeley Climate Action Coalition.  Bring your questions and ideas on how we’re going to transition to a lower carbon, more equitable and connected future. Please feel free to bring a snack to share around 6:30 pm (ditching plastics if you can). Film starts at 7.

For more info: info [at] transitionberkeley.com
website: http://www.transitionberkeley.com

This event is co-sponsored by Transition Berkeley, the BFUU’s Social Justice Committee, the Ecology Center and the Berkeley Climate Action Coalition

Wheelchair accessible.

Court Support for Janye

SUPPORT JANYE WALLER! – arrested in an obvious case of racial profiling, in which the cops said he “fit the description” of a crime he did not commit. A witness to the “crime” immediately confirmed that Janye had nothing to do with it, but Janye was still taken into custody where he was questioned and then leveled with serious charges related to last year’s protests in Oakland against the non-indictments for the murders of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

JANYE WALLER IS A YOUNG BLACK ACTIVIST, A LOCAL OF THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA. He lives and works in Oakland, providing financial support to his mother, his two younger brothers, and his cousin. He attended Berkeley Community College where he planned to major in Accounting, but had to take leave in order to help support his family, and he hopes to return to college soon. Janye also volunteers at a social center in West Oakland that works to empower black and indigenous people living in the Bay Area through education and mutual aid. Within this space Janye works tirelessly, helping coordinate and administer programs focusing on skills like urban farming, which foster both community and individual autonomy.

JANYE IS THE ONLY PERSON WHO IS CURRENTLY FACING SERIOUS CHARGES AFTER THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE FLOODED THE STREETS DURING THE WAVE OF PROTESTS IN THE BAY AREA LAST WINTER. After several high profile police killings of young black men, the Bay Area, like much of the rest of the country, surged into a wave of protest and resistance. The state responded by using the legal system as a tool of repression, threatening incarceration and steep fines for some of those involved in these actions. It is sad but obvious that the one person getting targeted for that beautiful moment of protest is a strong and politicized young black man.

Facebook page

Mayor Lee has been decidedly absent as we have sought dialogue with him about Chief Suhr’s inability to run a police force. Chief Suhr has created a culture of racism and brutalization that gave those five officers permission to assassinate Mario Woods. If he will not fire Chief Suhr, who refuses to step down, then we will let him know that he can go too. If we do not get justice, he will not get peace!!! We will be at the doors of San Francisco’s City Hall for the Mayor’s Inauguration not in celebration, but in protest!

Everyone please try to wear black. The mayor may be celebrating his re-election but we will turn it into a funeral march in honor of Mario Woods

#calltoaction #justice4mariowoods #mariowoods #shutdownSF #BlackLivesMatter #firechiefsuhr pic.twitter.com/18O61d9eck

— Justice4MarioWoods (@Justice4MWNow) January 2, 2016

Middle East – Justice First, Peace at Last

The Communist Party USA (Oakland/Berkeley) invites you to a discussion: Middle East – Justice First, Peace at Last.

Suggested Readings:

Communist Party of Israel, ‘Palestinian & Israeli Protesters: “The Last Day of the Occupation is the First Day of Peace”’ http://maki.org.il/en/?p=6287.

Uri Avnery, ‘ The Reign of Absurdiocy’. http://www.politicalaffairs.net/a-powerfful-isreali-critique-of-the-concept-of-international-terrorism-and-wars-without-end-against-it-by-norman-markowitz/.

Salam Ali, ‘The Iraqi Uprising Against Corruption And Sectarianism, http://iraqiletter.blogspot.com/

Despite unparalleled demonization, military threats, and sanctions the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) opens an unprecedented window into life in cities and countryside alike, the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) where the Cold War lives on, and how the country took a hitherto little-known path towards socialism.

Gloria La Riva is a lifelong social activist and organizer with the ANSWER Coalition and the Party for Socialism and Liberation.  She visited North Korea in 1989 and 2015.

Sharat G. Lin, PhD writes on global political economy, labor migration, and public health.  He is a research fellow and former president of the San José Peace and Justice Center.

4:30 pm Program Part 1:
Issues Roundtable, Gitmo, misc. topics
6:00 pm Vegetarian Potluck Dinner
live music, Mike Rufo, Vic Sadot, Francis Collins
7:00-9:00pm Program, Part 2:
Joanna Macy: Keynote on “Active Hope”

Speakers/Facilitators

Harvey Wasserman and Jon Simon: Clean Elections and Voting Machines
Dennis Burnstein, KPFA host, poet
Donald Goldmacher, “Heist” filmmaker/producer: the new Berkeley Progressive Alliance
Linda Seeley, SLO Mothers for Peace: Shut Diablo Canyon Now!
Shahid Buttar, Bill of Rights Defense Committee/Defending Dissent Foundation: Privacy Rights, Surveillance
Cynthia Papermaster, No More Gitmos and Ann Fagan Ginger, Meiklejohn Institute: Shut Gitmo and Prosecute Torture
Anna Cecelia Blackshaw: SURJ (Standing Up for Racial Justice)
Susan Harman: Public Banking
Toby Blome, Codepink: Ending Drone Wars
George Lippmann: Berkeley Peace & Justice Commission, Police Accountability Civilize and De-militarize the police; stop police murders and brutality
John Lindsay-Poland, AFSC: Stop Urban Shield Audit the Pentagon, End U.S. Wars of Occupation and Plunder

Many activists are overwhelmed with the variety of issues needing their attention. The number of meetings, protests, and actions of various sorts are causing burnout, but worse, we are not seeing many victories and we need some victories to have hope and to keep going to make this world a just and healthy one.

This 2016 election year will be a real opportunity for change if we take advantage of the predicted huge voter turnout to turn the corporate-funded Republicans and Democrats out of office who are not protecting the environment, upholding the law, or legislating for citizens’ needs. Can we unite behind progressive candidates and elect them? We think so. We know it’s possible given the current disgust with the mainstream political parties, the gridlock in Washington, and the corruption that’s evident and literally killing us.

The hoped-for goal of the gathering will be to identify actions and strategies that are, or could, lead to victories on the local, state, national and international level.

Another goal is to cross-pollinate and enhance our limited resources by working together more, by sharing ideas, support and communication so we can better join our voices and creative actions for more clout and more effective results.

A behind the scenes look at the Emergency Room at Highland hospital in Oakland.

Please come support Nailah, a comrade who was part of last year’s uprisings and is having charges filed against her in the last days before her statute of limitations is up

                  AND FREE QUALITY HEALTH CARE FOR ALL :

The Oasis Clinic in Oakland, CA, which treats patients with Hepatitis-C (HCV), is calling for a demonstration to protest the outrageous price-gouging of Big Pharma corporations, like Gilead Sciences, which hike-up the cost for essential, life-saving medications such as the cure for the deadly Hepatitis-C virus, in order to reap huge profits. The Oasis Clinic’s demand is:

                                                                PUBLIC HEALTH, NOT CORPORATE WEALTH!

The Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal urges you to support this demonstration! As many as 700,000 prisoners are among the nearly 5.2 million Americans infected with HCV, according to the Center for Disease Control, and political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal is among them.

MOBILIZE  AT THE JP MORGAN HEALTH CARE CONFERENCE.

This JP Morgan investor conference is an invitation-only event which entices corporate CEOs, CFOs, investors and other opportunist big-wigs to slurp up the profits that can be made from gouging the victims of life-threatening diseases such as Hepatitis-C. This includes Gilead Sciences, the “owner” of Harvoni, which is the effective new cure for HCV.

One pill a day for 12 weeks does the trick with a 95 percent cure rate, but Gilead charges $1,000 per pill, or nearly $100,000 for a full course of treatment!!

Prisoners are among the most likely to contract Hep-C, and among the least likely to receive the newly available cure for the disease, due to both the exaggerated price, and the refusal of prison administrations to provide proper health care to inmates!

Mumia Abu-Jamal was infected in 1981, after he was shot by police and treated as a prisoner for his wounds. Falsely convicted for killing a cop and sent to death row (he’s now serving life without the possibility of parole), Mumia’s infection began to show symptoms in 2015, which is typical for this slow-incubating but usually fatal (if untreated) disease. Mass mobilization by supporters is the only reason Mumia got any medical attention at all, and he is still denied the curative Harvoni treatment which alone can ensure his survival! The PA prison system is trying to kill Mumia by medical neglect!

 

In violation of National Institute of Health (NIH) regulations, Gilead canceled its program to supply a certain amount of the drug at low cost.   And the New York Times reported that in “a complicated deal to sell hepatitis drugs at a small fraction of their usual cost while imposing tight restrictions intended to protect lucrative markets in the West… for the past year, Gilead has sold the drug to the Egyptian government for about $10 a pill.”

Mumia Abu-Jamal, though he suffered near death for lack of treatment last year, is the first one to point out that he is only one of many. He supports the demands for treatment of some 10,000 prisoners in Pennsylvania alone who suffer from HCV infection.

In a recent federal appeal, lawyers fighting for treatment of Mumia brought out evidence in court of a secret PA Department of Corrections (DOC) protocol which explicitly provides for observation, but not treatment, of HCV infected prisoners!

WE DEMAND:

PUBLIC HEALTH, NOT CORPORATE WEALTH!

IMMEDIATE AND FREE TREATMENT FOR ALL HCV-INFECTED PRISONERS!

NO EXECUTION BY MEDICAL NEGLECT!

JAIL DRUG PROFITEERS, FREE MUMIA!

This message from:

Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal

PO Box 16222  Oakland CA 94610 

After 5 years of persistent protests at Beale AFB, opposing drone killing and global militarization, and many dozens of arrests over the years with very few trials, the U.S. military & gov’t are now preparing to prosecute, as they grow weary of our continued resistance.  Next week, 10 defendants will bring the illegal drone program to Sacramento courts again and welcome supporters!
January 12, Tuesday:
8:00 am – Anti-drone rally in front of courthouse, to include mock drone attack street theater
9:00 am – Arraignment, U.S. Federal Court, 501 I St., Sacramento
(8th Fl., Courtroom 27)
Mid-day, Anti-drone actions in Sacramento:
Full details to be determined,  to include Anti-drone march thru Sacramento streets,
Congressional visits, and more.

FB event, sign up here:
www.facebook.com/events/1642557749341977/
WE WILL NOT BE MOVED!  OR INTIMIDATED!….
Drone Protest continues at Beale AFB that afternoon, into Jan. 13, am.

On the same day as their arraignment:
The “Beale 10” and supporters will return to Beale AFB for 2 day protest. This will be a solidarity action in support of a  protest planned in DC at the State Capitol, called The Real State of the Union. On the same day as President Obama’s State of the Union address (expected to be filled with the usual deception and misinformation), activists in DC and across the country will stage actions to publicly bring attention to the real crises facing our nation and the world, and the failed U.S.  policies that contribute to them.
(details below)  Solidarity protests are planned at Beale and Creech drone bases the same day, to call for an end to the U.S empire’s number one oppressive tool, armed drones, that mostly kill indiscriminately.

We now have 4 former drone operators and air force veterans speaking out, who have publicly unveiled the real truth about drone killing and how it is destabilizing the world:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43z6EMy8T28

January 12, Tuesday
3-5:00 pm: Vigil/protest, Wheatland Gate,
Intersection of South Beale Rd. & Ostrom Rd.

Evening: Potluck and No Drones Peace Encampment,
(hotel options also)
Main Gate, Beale AFB, end of N. Beale Rd., east of Marysville.
6:00pm: Tentative group viewing of State of Union Address
(in public venue/Marysville, TBD)

RALLY

The President will be delivering his State of the Union Address on Jan. 12th in the evening. Join with other senior and disability organizations, labor unions, and environmental activists to let the President know that California opposes the TPP (and let Congresswoman Pelosi hear us too!). Events like this will be happening around the country on this day –prior to the President’s speech. Stand up and be counted.

If you can’t attend the rally on the Jan. 12th – please be sure to make these calls: (you don’t need to wait until Jan. 12th to call)

STOP THE TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP (TPP)
It’s a Bad Deal for Seniors, People with Disabilities, and Medicare!
Call Senator Feinstein and Your Congressperson Today
Capitol Switchboard: 877-762-8762

The United States has concluded negotiations on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, and on November 5, 2015, President Obama released the text of the agreement. This started a 90-day period for public review before Congress can take an up or down vote. The agreement contains various provisions that could affect drug prices for all Americans, including seniors. These provisions would block patent reform and jeopardize the government’s ability to negotiate lower prices for drugs in public programs like Medicare. Here are some key talking points that you can use when talking with your elected officials and others about the dangers of the TPP:
Fewer jobs, lower wages

Voting for the TPP means fewer jobs and lower wages for American workers. This is because it fails to address currency manipulation; has incredibly weak rules of origin on autos and auto parts; and fails to level the playing field in terms of state-owned enterprises and labor and environmental standards.

All the rhetoric being used to pitch the TPP has been heard before. NAFTA and CAFTA were supposed to end undocumented immigration. The Colombia Free Trade Agreement was supposed to solve the long-standing issues of violent repression of labor unionists. And the Korea FTA was going to create 70,000 jobs. Not one of these promises has been fulfilled.

Higher Prescription Drug Prices

The Alliance for Retired Americans, Doctors Without Borders, AARP and Oxfam America agree: TPP contains extreme patent protections for name-brand pharmaceuticals that threaten to restrict access to cheaper lifesaving medicines in all TPP countries, including in the United States.
TPP contains a lengthy patent exclusivity period for certain types of drugs – including biologics, special drugs used to treat cancer and arthritis. This will make it more difficult for other companies to manufacture the cheaper generic versions of drugs – leading to higher costs for everyone.

TPP jeopardizes the government’s ability to list and price prescription drugs in public programs, like Medicare, which millions of seniors and disabled people rely on. More specifically, foreign corporations or subsidiaries will be able to challenge Medicare if drug pricing in these programs affects their profits. .

Finally, TPP could tie the hands of future Congresses to negotiate drug prices under Medicare or enact a Medicare drug rebate program, which would save Medicare $121 billion over 10 years.

Americans pay the highest prescription drug prices in the industrialized world, and last year drug prices went up by 13 percent. That’s more than eight times the rate of inflation in a single year! We think Congress should be working on ways to reduce drug costs, rather than making this problem worse. This is not the time to support an agreement that could further increase drug costs to consumers and the government while lining the pockets of the pharmaceutical industry.

Do you know about mental health resources in Alameda County? Learn more on Jan 13! RSVP https://t.co/dhxKdzr8Lb . pic.twitter.com/R4WGMsu2ua

— Keith Carson (@Keith_Carson) January 11, 2016

The Occupy The Farm documentary will be screened on the Sprouts grocery building @ 30th & Broadway today 6pm; protests outside store all day

— Occupy Oakland (@OccupyOakland) January 13, 2016

Go to grand opening of Sprouts grocery 30th & Broadway, #Oakland today & tell shoppers to boycott until company stops paving Gill Tract farm

— Occupy Oakland (@OccupyOakland) January 13, 2016